Meddling With Time
by willshakespeare-immortalbard
Summary: When Peter Pettigrew's wand snaps in the Shrieking Shack, Harry (along with Hermione, Ron, Sirius, and Remus) is thrown into the past…where he and his companions will have to face the Marauders. They will be forced to work together with the Marauders as they attempt to discover a way back to their own time. But will they be able to leave the future unscathed? Rated T-see inside.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N—Disclaimer: I own nothing. **_**Harry Potter **_**belongs to J.K Rowling and to Warner Bros. Nothing recognizable belongs to me.**

** Note: I've wanted to write a time travel fanfiction since I first started reading them about a year ago. Finally I've decided to take the plunge. Hopefully I can contribute something fresh and original to the pool, but I'd like to give a huge thank you to each and every time travel writer I've read—too many to count; all have been enjoyable fics and have helped me to get an idea of what it takes to write a fic like that. **

** Note 2: This piece will heavily feature Peter Pettigrew. I feel a large amount of pity for him, and I would like to explore his role in the Marauders. This piece will also explore the parallels between the Trio and the Marauders, especially the similarity of character roles, such as the Harry/James, Ron/Sirius, Remus/Hermione similarities, and the question of where Peter may fall in those similarities. **

** Summary: When Peter Pettigrew's wand snaps in the Shrieking Shack, Harry (along with Hermione, Ron, Sirius, and Remus) is thrown into the past…where he and his companions will have to face the Marauders. They will be forced to work together with the Marauders as they attempt to discover a way back to their own time. But will they be able to leave the future unscathed? Rated T for werewolf transformations and possible triggers. Please read/review!**

_**Meddling With Time**_

"_Awful things happen to wizards who've meddled with time."_

Hermione,_ Prisoner of Azkaban_

Peter Pettigrew staggered away from Lupin and Black, eyes wide, panting with terror. The piano—_why did they ever put a piano in here? Does Remus play?_—shuddered as he slammed into it. The sound that emerged was low and discordant, matching the tenseness in the room.

"Y-you wouldn't _kill_ me, surely you wouldn't—" he choked out, staring up at his two friends in horror. "Remus…Sirius…oh, please, please, _please _don't kill me…"

Neither of the two spoke, only holding out their wands. Sirius' was steady—like everything Sirius did, his wand hand was firm and devoid of doubt. But as he whimpered and whined, begging for mercy, Peter saw Remus' hand tremble slightly.

"Please, Remus!" Peter wailed, reaching out as if to clutch Remus' legs. From off to his left he heard the boy—Ronald—make a disgusted sound in his throat. Fear, confusion, and the beginnings of hatred emanated off of Harry, and the girl was unreadable.

"Stop talking to him." Sirius' voice was the complete opposite of his hand; where his hand was steady, his voice was wildly erratic.

"Remus…please listen to me…."

"I SAID STOP TALKING TO HIM!" Sirius roared, advancing on Peter. Peter couldn't bite back the squeal of terror that escaped him. He stumbled backward, tumbling even harder into the piano. The legs cracked, and the instrument buckled toward the ground. On its way it scraped along Peter's back, and he felt his wand snap.

_No!_

There was an eruption of light, and the room shook like an earthquake had struck. The children screamed, and Sirius cursed—_had he heard that word before? It sounded familiar_—vibrantly. Peter dug into his back pocket and fished out his wand: it was glowing like a torch, and it was burning hot. He shrieked and dropped it, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the girl fish into her shirt and tear out a necklace. It too was glowing, and apparently burning. She held it out—

—and the entire room spun. Not around and around, like Peter had used to watch Remus spin Sirius' little cousin Nymphadora around, but up and down, like an hourglass…like the necklace that was bobbing in the girl's trembling hand.

A time turner.

The time turner and Peter's wand both glowed a brilliant white. The room shone, and Peter went blind.

_"What. Did. You. Do?" _


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N—Disclaimer: I own nothing. **_**Harry Potter **_**belongs to J.K Rowling and to Warner Bros. Nothing recognizable belongs to me.**

** Note: I have tried to keep people as in character as I can, but I'm aware that Peter especially will seem out of character. This is intentional. I'm also aware that Remus seems to switch sides. That was less intentional, but I like the effect, and am keeping it. This story, as I said, is meant to explore Peter Pettigrew's role in the Marauders. A heavy part of that exploration will deal on his relationship with Remus, both in the Marauders era and the HP era. Please bear with me...I'm new to this genre of fanfiction. **

** Note 2: This piece will be a sadder, darker piece. There won't be too much humor, even once they join the Marauders, because I want this fanfiction to be very introspective. Just a warning to those who might be waiting for some laughs...they will be few and short. **

* * *

"W-what did I _do_?" Peter repeated. He stared at the ground, entranced by his now normal-looking wand. It was snapped completely in half. "I don't know."

"His wand snapped." Remus stepped forward and scooped up the two pieces. "May I, Peter?"

"I-I don't care."

Remus looked the wand over, tugging at the core. "There's nothing in the core that's unusual…I don't see how the wand snapping could have triggered a reaction like that."

"My wand snapped last year. It didn't do that." It was Ron who spoke. "When Harry and I crashed into the Whomping Willow. It just snapped. It didn't glow."

"My time turner…" Hermione whispered.

"_Time turner?_" Remus spun to face her. Peter could see the conflicting emotions on his face—that mix of _whatareyoudoingwithatimeturneryou'reonlythirteen _and _atimeturnercanIsee—didyouknowthattheseareillegalunlessauthorizedbytheministry_ that Peter knew so well from when they were at school.

"I was using it for classes this year…" Hermione's voice was weak. "I wanted to try everything…and McGonagall said this was the only way, so we set it up with the Ministry…it must have reacted with his wand when it broke…"

"Of course," Remus breathed. "Every wand emits a small blast of power when it's snapped. Normally that blast is so small that it doesn't affect anything—that's why your wand did, apparently, nothing when it snapped, Ron. But I'm sure it messed with the car's controls or something…but when Peter's wand snapped, the blast was large enough to affect Hermione's time turner."

"And you're saying?" Sirius asked, and Peter suddenly felt himself transported back to his years as a student again: Remus chattering about something clever, Sirius wanting it explained even though he didn't need the explanation, and Peter waiting for somebody to explain it. The only thing missing was James.

"I'm sure what we experienced was a sort of time warp."

"But Professor, we're still in the Shrieking Shack!" Hermione protested. She was pale, and Peter felt a wave of sympathy for her.

"Yes, we are. Which means that we've hopefully only experienced a very small warp: if we're lucky, only a few seconds, or a few minutes tops. Those aren't terribly dangerous; if it's only been a few seconds, we might actually be able to complete a merge with the future, since the time distance is so insignificant."

"…And what if it's not, Remus?" Peter asked softly.

Sirius stepped forward with a tense expression on his face, ready to snap at Peter, but Remus answered Peter in the way he had so often used to when they were all at school: as if he was a teacher addressing a confused student. Peter had used to find it frustrating…now it was comforting.

"Well, if it's not we'll have to find a way to bridge the gap so that we can return to our time. But I think the best thing to do is to find out exactly how much of a distance we've put between ourselves and where we started out; then we can work out the kinks of how to get back, or how to effect a merge."

"Let's go, then," Sirius barked, cutting off any other attempts at questions. Peter clamped his mouth shut, and he saw Hermione's hand slide back down as well. "I've lived in this house for the past several months, and I've had enough of it to last me a lifetime. Who's taking charge of _that_?"

Hurt surged through Peter as he remembered that, despite the brief moment of familiar camaraderie that he had shared with Remus, he had still done the unforgiveable. He had still betrayed James and Lily. He had still orphaned their son. He had still sent Sirius to Azkaban—for life, even if Sirius had only stayed for twelve years. He had still…he had still ruined countless lives, and even if his life was one of them, he hadn't been forgiven.

"There's got to be a better way," Remus told Sirius.

"Does there?" It wasn't a curious question: it was a hostile one. Sirius was on the defensive now.

"Yes. If we've made a greater gap than we're hoping for, then we can't be seen dragging someone up toward Hogwarts' castle—or Hogsmeade. We'll get caught and jailed for sure."

"Meddling with time isn't safe," Hermione put it. "What if people recognize us? We don't know what way in time we've gone."

"Excellent point." _Remus was such an excellent teacher…we always knew he'd be wonderful at it; he's too smart to not be wonderful at it. _

"And what other way is there, Remus?" The defensive tone was still in Sirius' voice, sharp and biting, acrid and stinging.

"An Unbreakable Vow, if Peter will comply."

"_If_?" Now Sirius' voice was issuing a challenge: take his side, or take Peter's. And Peter knew that if Remus took Peter's side, the result would be nasty.

Remus took Peter's side. "_If._ For several reasons: one, the Unbreakable Vow can't be forced upon somebody. That's basic knowledge, so don't try to contradict me on that. Two, it is…unethical, to say the least…to even attempt to force Peter into a situation which could result in his death."

"_Unethical?_ Remus, he betrayed James and Lily! HE KILLED THEM!"

"That doesn't mean that—"

"You were more than ready to help me kill him!"

"But not to force Peter to make a vow that will cause him to kill himself, essentially."

"What's the difference? We'll be rid of him either way."

"It makes a difference to me."

The magic words. They had always worked on Sirius: _it makes a difference to me_. In all of their years at Hogwarts, there had been only two subjects on which Sirius had remained steadfast against those special, simple words. Those two subjects had been Severus Snape and Sirius' accompanying Remus every full moon as Padfoot. But on every other subject, he had been dissuaded by those words. _It makes a difference to me. _

"Why?" Peter was a sore spot in Sirius' life—he was fighting hard, Peter could tell.

"Because I've had some time to clear my head and get it screwed on correctly!" Remus snapped. "Because I don't particularly want to have a killing curse sitting over my head for the rest of my life; if I wanted to kill someone, I'd just run rampant every full moon. Because now isn't the time to sort out old problems."

"Perhaps because you're doubting me?" Sirius was just being immature now. He was picking a fight.

"Peter, will you take the Vow?"

Had it been anybody else in the entire world, even Lord Voldemort, Peter would have hesitated. He would have stalled, trying to gain enough time to figure out if taking the Unbreakable Vow was worth an ounce of freedom.

He didn't hesitate.

"O-of course, Remus. But I…I don't know…"

"Inconsequential right now. I know how. Now, Sirius…give me your hand."


End file.
